Maximum Time
by DangerousMuteLunatic
Summary: One minute, Max is in a hospital in London. The next, she is swept off into a world even she never could have thought possible. Summary to change. R&R, please!
1. Chapter 1

I hate hospitals.

I know I've said it before and I'll say it again.

I hate them.

I hate the smell of chemicals and latex gloves, the sterile white rooms, and most of all, I hate the lab coats.

I scowled. I shouldn't even be here. One clipped wing and its all "Oh, we need to get you to the hospital!" Yes, it hurt like hell, but a hospital? It seemed unnecessary.

I wished I could go see Dr. Martinez instead. She already knows about us. Despite our recent "Saving the World" shenanigans, nobody really knows who we are or how to help us. But Dr. Martinez and my friend Ella were far away, back in the States. We were all the way in England, if you can believe that.

I smiled a bit, thinking of my Flock. Fang had carried me here, with a little help from Iggy. Angel had held my hand the entire way, bless her heart. Nudge hadn't stopped talking to me for the whole flight, but hey, that's just Nudge. Gazzy had even grabbed lunch. Bonus!

The door to my little room opened and the doctor who had treated me stepped in, followed by another woman in a lab coat. Ugh, whitecoats. Out of habit and instinct, I braced myself for flight, both metaphorical and literal. The doctor nodded formally to me, then came to the bedside to examine my bandaged wing. The woman sat in a stool by me.

"When can I get out of here?" I asked, not really hiding the bitterness in my voice.

"When you've fully recovered," answered the preoccupied doctor. "One week, maybe two."

"So, like, tomorrow." I muttered. We all regenerate pretty quickly.

The woman I hadn't met leaned forward and whispered, "Possibly sooner." She smiled as if we had just shared a secret.

I blinked in surprise. She hadn't even ogled my wings when she came in, unlike everyone else I've ever shown them to, besides the Flock, of course. Did she know something…?

Soon the doctor was satisfied with the condition of my damaged wing. He left without another word, leaving me alone with the stranger.

She was actually quite pretty. Her skin was like Nudge's, smooth and chocolaty-brown. Her dark hair was pulled up in a bun, but not a tight, stern old lady bun. More like a loose, fun kind of bun. If that's possible.

"Max?" She said.

I nodded.

"I'm Doctor Martha Jones. There's someone I think you should meet."


	2. Chapter 2

**[A/N: Thank you for the reviews! They're what keep me writing. I made the mistake of working on 3 active stories at once (one that I haven't posted yet) so I'm trying to keep up. You guys, my readers, are the best!]**

Dr. Jones signed the release papers that afternoon. My wing was pretty much healed up by then, if a little stiff. Now she was calling someone on her cell phone. She hadn't explained much, but I knew I was to meet someone "special." I didn't know whether or not to trust her, but I didn't seem to have much of a choice.

Finally whoever Dr. Jones was calling answered the phone. "Doctor?" she said hopefully.

_Oh, great, more doctors. No doubt to put me through some maze. _

"Doctor, it's Martha. Yeah, it's been a while. I'm fine, yeah. Listen, I've run across someone that I think is right up your alley."

_What, he works with mutant avian-human hybrid teenagers? Pretty specific department._

"No, no, nothing like that," Dr. Jones continued. "A girl. No, shut up! A teenage girl. Doctor, listen, she has _wings_."

There was a long pause.

"Um, yeah, I'm behind the hospital. Track my phone."

"Wait, track?" I spoke up. I'm not a fan of being tracked, especially after my microchip incident.

"Just for the time stamp." Martha explained unhelpfully, taking her phone from her ear. "Otherwise he might've shown up yesterday." She must've seen the look of confusion on my face, so she tried to remedy it by saying, "I wasn't at work yesterday."

"But… But how could he have shown up yesterday?" I was trying to grasp it. It was impossible… unless…

Dr. Jones smiled. "He can do anything; He's the Doctor."

I was about to ask more questions when I was interrupted by what sounded like a rebreather mask going through a blender. I whipped around to see a big blue phone booth materializing on the pavement. Dr. Jones didn't seem at all fazed by its sudden appearance, in fact, she looked pleased.

A man in a tweed jacket and a bowtie opened the door. "'Ello, Martha! I see you've made some new friends!"

**[A/N: Reviews make me write faster, honest! DML out!]**


	3. Chapter 3

"Doctor!" Dr. Jones said excitedly. I was still marveling over the sudden appearance of the phone box.

The mysterious man stepped out of his box and gave Dr. Jones a hug, then extended a hand to me.

"'Allo, I'm the Doctor. And you are?" He seemed friendly, but I wasn't taking any chances.

"The Mutant Avian-Human Hybrid Girl with Atrocious Fashion Sense. Seriously, what's your name?"

"Like I said, I'm the Doctor. People call me the Doctor, I call me the Doctor, I'm called the Doctor. While I suppose I could call you Mahhg Afs, I think there's probably something you'd rather be called."

I was stunned for a moment. Grown-ups _never_ had a comeback for our snarky remarks. I quickly composed myself and replied, "My name is Maximum Ride."

"Come up with that yourself, did you?" His tone was serious now. _How did he know?_

"Yeah… I go by Max." Ugh, pull it together, Max, you don't need to get friendly with this guy!

"Well, Max, I see you've met Martha Jones-"

Dr. Jones (I guess it's okay to call her Martha?) interrupted him. "That's _Doctor_ Martha Jones."

A grin lit up the Doctor's entire face. "Fantastic! I'm still _the_ Doctor, though… the definite article…"

I cleared my throat loudly.

"Right, then, so, Max," he leaned in close, "_what makes you special?_"

No one has ever asked me that before. No one has ever had to.

"Well, for starters," I stretched out my wings. Even with one of them being bandaged, it was still an impressive sight. To my great surprise, he waved them off.

"Yes, yes, the wings, but I'm talking about _you_, Max, what makes _you_ special?"

I was speechless. The Doctor didn't care that I was the most successful recombinant lifeform _ever_, didn't care that I had freaking _wings_ growing out of my back, _he was asking about me._

And somehow, I wanted to believe him.

**[AN: Okay. So. School has hit me hard, and I haven't been able to write, oh, ABYTHING. Plus I made the mistake of adding a fandom to my repertoire. (Homestuck, for anyone who cares) So now I am completely spread thin. If I can survive until the holidays, I swear I'll update SOMETHING. Just bear with me. Thanks! DMLunatic… has to do homework. Ugh. Peace!]**


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